Tips for new drivers

Now you’ve passed your HGV test and got your license you’re probably a little bit excited to get out on the road and lead the driver’s lifestyle. Before you take the leap, take a minute or two to think about where you want to end up and how you’re going to get there.

Check out these tips for new drivers to make the right first steps in your career.

Gain Experience

The more experience you gain early on, the better. Apply for as many different roles, agencies and jobs as you can. Gaining a wide range of experience can help you to discover what you love doing and what you really, really don’t want to do.

Get Qualified

To help yourself stand out from all of the other drivers out there, it’s worth considering getting a few extra qualifications to add to your toolkit. More skills usually means you’re more employable and useful to potential employers. Afterall if they can use you for lots of different jobs, rather than getting different drivers for a range of tasks, it saves them time and effort.

Qualifications like HIAB and ADR broaden your horizons and are recognised across the industry.

Consider Being Self-Employed

Once you’re qualified and have plenty of experience under your belt it’s time to think about self-employment. It’s not for everyone – you might lose some job security and other perks from employment, but you can gain a higher take home pay and a degree of flexibility and freedom that employment can rarely beat.

Take a look at our previous post on self-employment for HGV drivers here to find out more.
There’s a lot more to an HGV career than we’ve talked about here, but if you take the right first steps you can launch yourself into a long and successful career in no time.